


before the sun rises

by bluecranes



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hoshi Meguri (IDOLiSH7), Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 01:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20301106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluecranes/pseuds/bluecranes
Summary: Orion is the man he has sworn to protect with his life, but little did Erin know that he would develop a more complicated relationship with the king of Lama. Loyalty turned to love, love turned to turmoil. Orion has always made his life more complicated.





	before the sun rises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miracleloupe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miracleloupe/gifts).

> here's my fic for the GakuRiku/OriEri exchange! I had a lot of fun writing this. Thank you Gen for the sweet and open ended prompt, I hope you enjoy :)

It wasn't a rare occasion for Erin to wake up and find his king asleep at his desk after a long night of planning and strategy. The redhead peered around the corner, his eyes falling over the mess of silver hair that lay on the mahogany desk. 

Erin walked silently over to the desk, seeing that Orion had attempted to unbutton his coat but hadn't made it all the way. It was admirable how hard Orion worked, but Erin really did wish he would relax a little more. Normally, Orion's steel-gray eyes would look upon Erin disapprovingly, usually unamused with his antics. For now, however, his eyelashes fanned out over his cheeks, his fair skin streaked by the soft glow of light that peeked in through the heavy curtains of the library. 

Erin couldn't help but admire how strikingly handsome his king was. His hand reached out on its own, his feather-light touch brushing the stray hairs out of Orion's face. It was indulgent for Erin to touch him like this. Of course, he had his fun with his king here and there, however intimate touches like this were few and far in between. 

He always played it off as a joke. A game. Just a bit of a tease.

It wasn't as if it was something Orion could reciprocate anyway. 

Erin knew wanting the king all to himself was selfish. He was a man who lived to serve his people. Erin was hardly worthy to be at his side now and wanting more than that was greedy. However, that didn't stop his heart from racing when he saw the flutter of Orion's eyes, the liquid silver melting into his as he woke from his slumber.

"Erin."

"My king."

"Care to explain?" His voice was dry, low and rumbled in his throat from lack of use. Erin wondered how many hours it had been since he had spoken to someone?

"You had something on your face?" Erin smiled, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes as he pulled his fingers away, the perfectly trained expression in his features.

"I somehow don't believe that…" Orion rose from his desk, stretching as he looked at the soft light streaming into the library. 

"Gods...what time is it?" 

"The sun is about to rise, sire."

"It's awfully early for a devil like you to be lurking the halls. Up to trouble?"

"Couldn't sleep, milord."

"Nightmares again?"

Erin huffed quietly, pouting his cheeks out at Orion's questioning.

"That word sounds so childish you know…"

Orion's hand reached up to Erin's face, gently gripping his chin between his fingertips. 

"For some, nightmares of war and our pasts last until our final sleep. There is nothing to be ashamed about--"

"It's fine, Orion. Really." Erin grimaced at his own use of the king's name in such a casual manner, but he couldn't help but feel his chest tighten as he saw the genuine concern in Orion's eyes. He may have been stern, but he was a man that genuinely did care for all. 

But Erin couldn't stand being pitied.

He gently stepped out of Orion's grasp and took a small bow. 

"You haven't had an opportunity to sleep in for a while, right, milord?" Quickly he turned to face the door, his back to Orion now. 

"Why don't I escort you to your room and I'll keep anyone from bothering you for a few extra hours? After all, you did work pretty late…"

"Erin…" The king began but knew that it was futile. Erin was always so elusive, never really revealing enough about himself to Orion or anyone else that would allow him to be vulnerable. 

"Alright."

It was a silent walk back to Orion's chambers. Not many of the palace attendants were awake just yet, however, the few that were bowed their heads to the king as he walked by. They all knew how hard he worked. And he was greatly respected for it.

"I'll tell everyone you had a headache as soon as you woke up so I forced you back to bed." Erin smiled, finally looking Orion in the eyes once again with that practiced expression. 

"And you're not going to tend to me?"

"Haha, I don't think healing or healthcare is on my resume, sire~" 

The king hummed quietly at the thought, the sunrise slowly filling the halls with golden light. He stalked towards Erin, a particularly serious expression on his face.

"That may be true, but they do say that some people can have healing auras…"

However, Erin was quick to combat that idea, pressing Orion's back against the chamber door, a tiny dagger at his neck.

"Hmmm...I don't think a healing aura would be effective in my line of work." Erin said nonchalantly, the ruby red of his eyes connecting with silver.

"Are you saying you wouldn't try for me?"

"As long as you're alright with being sorely disappointed, I suppose I'd try just about anything, milord."

"Then I fully expect your care for the next few hours while I... _ sleep in." _

Erin's impish expression broke for a moment, blinking as if he was trying to process what was just said.

"Milord?"

"Didn't you say you'd try anything for me?" Orion spoke with authority, and Erin could feel his body melting into the floor with each syllable the king spoke.

"I'm ah...under your command, my liege." Erin pulled away from his dagger and felt Orion grip his wrist.

"Then let's see who can heal who's nightmares first." 

There was a hint of something indecent in the way Orion emphasized the word  _ heal,  _ and Erin couldn't help but laugh at his attempts to be suave.

"If you wanted me in your chambers so badly, milord…" The assassin took Orion by the hand, pulling him into the room and shutting the doors.

"All you had to do was be a little nicer, and maybe put a little more effort into your appearance, and oh I don't know, be a king of a little richer kingdom--"

"I've changed my mind."

"No!"

"I'm having you hung from the gallows at dawn."

"Hang me yourself~"

"Is that a challenge?" Orion wrapped his hand around Erin's neck, but the defiant smirk on the assassin's face said he knew he wasn't in any danger.

"Oh no, milord." He licked his lips, his eyes trailing from the king's mouth to his eyes.

_ "I'm begging you." _

* * *

The sun was starting to rise now, the amber light streaming through the soft burgundy curtains of Orion's room. The king carded his fingers through red tresses as the assassin laid his head on Orion's broad chest. 

At first, he wasn't sure if the younger man had fallen asleep, but once Erin turned his head to meet Orion's eyes, he was hyperaware of how close their faces were. 

"Good morning," he whispered, his throat slightly abused and hoarse. Orion continued to card his fingers through his hair for a moment longer before replying.

"A good morning indeed." he stretched, before pulling him in closer to his body. Erin made a small noise before relaxing in Orion's arms.

"Milord, you know I've gotta start getting back to my duties…"

"Your duties are to me, and my needs are right here."

"People will talk. They'll get suspicious, you know."

Orion took Erin's face in his hand, tilting his face closer to his own.

"Let them talk." he leaned in, pressing a kiss to Erin's lips and letting all of the stress on his shoulders melt away. The assassin couldn't help but want to indulge his king for however long he was necessary. 

For the next hour, the next day, the next month…

"I'll be here for as long as you need, mi--"

"Erin, please."

"Hmm?"

Erin could feel Orion's heart-pounding, and the honest look in the king's eyes made him want to shrivel away. To hide away from that honest life that he wanted Erin to live. Opening up to Orion had been difficult enough, and these days it seemed like Orion wanted him to wear his heart on his sleeve.

"You don't have to speak in pleasantries when it's just you and I." His voice was calm. Commanding, but soothing.

"Okay."  _ Why? _

He didn't ask.

"We're equals, you and I."

"Orion, it's okay, just because we slept together doesn't mean…"

Orion's eyes flashed with hurt, and his brows furrowed with pain and confusion.

"Is that what you think? That I would just use you for something like that?"

"I said I was yours to use, it doesn't hurt my feelings to do my duty."

"So that's all this was? An obligation to your duty?"

"Don't be stupid, Orion."

_ "Then what is it?" _

That was a question Erin wasn't necessarily prepared to answer right now. It was a difficult one, one that had kept him up along with the nightmares that Orion so desperately wanted to save him from. 

"It's easier if you just let me call it my duty."

"Nothing about us has ever been easy, Erin."

"Do you really think it would be easier for me to admit that I love you?" He laughed bitterly, refusing to see the reaction on Orion's face. Disgust would be the easiest to handle. Hatred. Resentment. These were all things Erin was used to.

But the adoring way he saw Orion looking back as he caught their reflection in the mirror made his stomach turn. 

He had to go.

"I can't, Orion. We can't do this."

"There is nothing that says we can't."

"Your whole  _ existence _ says we can't!"

"I'm in love with you Erin, and I refuse to let anyone say I must do otherwise," Orion stated it so plainly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Erin didn't understand how he could speak so bluntly, as if everything was without worry. As if they were just two men in love and not a monarch with a kingdom on his shoulders and an assassin with a bounty on his own. 

"You don't know what you're saying…" Erin couldn't help but laugh, the painful feeling of his heart being shredded bit by bit with every word of Orion's conviction. 

"Your duty is to your people…"

"My duty...is to my heart. And my heart says that this is what's right." 

"You must think this is some fairytale romance. You think that just because you love me, everyone will accept it? That those people won't resent you, me, or our relationship? You will never be able to produce an heir to carry on the bloodline of the throne. That isn't something to take so lightly in favor of romance."

"When the hell has you cared about any of that?!" Orion's silver eyes glinted with steeled disdain, his expression twisted in confusion and pain. 

"I chose you to be my protector because you didn't care about status, or money, or maintaining this status quo. You've never been a palace favorite, but neither have I! Why start now? I don't care about any of that either. Producing an heir? Like hell, you care about something like that. Just admit that you're afraid to feel something real."

Erin couldn't argue with that, falling silent and thinking about how they got to this point. Here he was, completely undone and defenseless, wrapped in the arms of the most powerful man on Lama. Deceit, treachery, mischief, and betrayal were all ways Erin used to get here. And now it was  _ love  _ rescuing him from the darkness that he knew before. That he still knows. 

"I don't know...how worthy I'd be. To handle something like this." 

"You're more than enough Erin.  _ You've always been more than enough. _ "

"That'll take some time to get used to. But if you're really sure…"

"I've never been more sure about anything, or anyone." 

"Then I guess I don't have a choice."

"I want you to. I want you to choose me."

Erin couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation. Erin had chosen him long ago, but he would've never imagined he would've had to choose him under these circumstances.

"I chose you a long time ago Orion. I said I would never leave your side, and I meant it."

"Promise me."

_ "I swear it." _

In the intimacy of that room, Orion pulled his lover once again into a tight embrace, kissing his lips with passion untamed and unrestricted. Erin could feel his walls giving way beneath the sunset of what they used to be. The carmine-red of the blood they've both spilled, the yellows of the sun that beamed over their land, the satin peach of their skin pressed against one another in secrecy.

Orion's lips were charged with fervor, his desperation to prove to Erin how much he loved him stained in his movements. Orion would move this planet for him, the universe if he could. Erin reached his scarred hands in Orion's hair, hopelessly trying to hold on as his king transformed it all.

As that day turned, and Erin felt his whole world spinning, changing, and evolving, it gave way to the sunrise of what was new. The burnt orange of their passion, the indigo of the sea Orion promised to take him to, the gold of their promises. 

"I love you, Orion."

The breaking light before the sun rises.

"And I love you, Erin."

_ fin _

**Author's Note:**

> hope everyone made it here alive! Yell at me on Twitter! @flyhinata!


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